Month: December 2018

As we come to the end of the Julian year, we now give you the dates for Healing Prayer for the upcoming year, 2019. The dates are marked according to the Julian scheme so as to make it as easy as possible for folks to be active in their participation, without having to convert Treasury Calendar dates. May the upcoming year bring you joy and fulfillment, and may Apollon and the other Theoi bring you many blessings!

Below you will find all of the Julian dates for Healing Prayer, during the new year. As always, the Treasury invites you to join us in prayer.

Prayer should begin at or around sunset, local time.

January 27, 2019

February 25, 2019

March 27, 2019

April 26, 2019

May 25, 2019

June 24, 2019

July 23, 2019

August 22, 2019

September 20, 2019

October 19, 2019

November 18, 2019

December 17, 2019

Guidelines:

Prayers are NOT to be directed toward specific persons, UNLESS THEY HAVE CONSENTED to prayers on their behalf.

Participants are encouraged to pray for whatever healing they, or CONSENTING loved ones need (excepting minor children or dependents– discretion lies with parents or guardians), be it physical/medical, mental, emotional, etc.

Prayers ARE to be directed toward closing existing rifts within the spheres of the public Polytheist and/or Pagan communities. This includes local, statewide, national, or online communities.

Prayers should ONLY be directed toward communities that participants are ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN.

ALL prayers should be addressed to the Lord Apollon, or to Apollon and Asklepios, as the case may be for medical intervention.

While I don’t care for the term godspouse, it is perhaps one of the most well known terms to describe the mystic relationship that develops between the soul of a human and the god the soul belongs to. Plato describes the act of Eros on the soul, and myth often shows Eros (or Aphrodite) acting to play the matchmaker between human souls and the gods. Of course most of this is regarded as nothing more than mythic generation of heroes etc, but these myths also serve as an important spiritual dialogue to our souls to take root with the love inspired in the soul. Ten years ago when I first started down this path in my relationship with Apollon, you could throw a rock and be quite unlikely to ever come close to hitting another godspouse. Now I am feeling inclined to write on this subject for my pagan blog project entry rather than what I had previously planned just because there has been instances coming up recently in which emotions have run high over misinformation regarding godspousery and assumptions that have been made. Therefore I am hoping that this post will clear some of those things up. These are in no particular order of importance, and I may miss a few points, as I am certain that there are many more which are relevant. If I missed something please feel free to add another point to the comments section.

1.) Misconception: Godspousery is a new pagan fad indulged in by young women (usually in their 20’s) engaged in without much consideration or forethought towards the consequences of jumping into that kind of relationship with a god.

Answer: While it is true that there are a number of new godspouses on the scene who fit that bill, there are many folks out there who have been around and have had such a relationship established successfully for a number of years. Among them there are many instances where it is seldom jumped into but has a kind of “courtship” phase before deciding on taking on that kind of relationship and level of devotion. Nor are all godspouses even women. Which leads me to point 2.

2.) Misconception: That all godspouses are women engaged in a bridal relationship with a male god.

Answer: Nope. In fact there are men who engage in this relationship with male gods, and with goddesses, and women who engage with this relationship with goddesses even as there are women who engage in it with gods. When I say women and men here I mean for it include heterosexual, homosexuals, transgenders et al. Despite what the current most vocal majority is, godspousery has no sexual or age prerequisites. It is a calling of the soul, an attraction inspired by Eros between the soul and the god. Right now there appears to be a majority of godspousery showing up among cisgender women, but that perception may very well be skewed by how many folks are silent on the subject. Many men seem to be more reluctant to talk about it publicly.

3.) Misconception: All godspouses are of a Nordic or Heathen religious tradition.

Answer: This perception may again have to do with the vocal majority, as it may *appear* that is most common with Odin and Loki, but it is not altogether accurate. I have met individuals who are godspouses to gods from various pantheons of gods. Myself included obviously.

4.) Misconception: There is absolutely no historic basis for godspousery.

Answer: This is kinda of a tricky statement, because history is not always quite that detailed. Setting aside the myths (in which as I noted above many such situations arise), you do have instances in which mortals were considered brides of gods. From a Hellenic perspective, the initiation imagery of women for the mysteries of Dionysos have a distinctive bridal imagery to them with Dionysos and Ariadne looking on. Likewise the Pythia was widely considered the bride of Apollon, and literature seems to indicate similar concepts of the sybils. Virgil’s Aeneid certainly suggests a very intimate relationship between the Sybil at Cumae and her god. Of course whether these kind of personal relationships were common outside of these very prominent cult settings we will likely never know, although great devotion of love to a gods seems dubious that it was uncommon, else how sympathetic and tragic would have the death of Hippolytes been without the understanding of his love of Artemis and his preference of her company and scorn of entering into marriage. Or the rise of Plato’s philosophy in regards to addressing the subject of the soul’s attraction and love towards the god to which she belongs (soul typically represented in the feminine form symbolically). So it very well may have not have been unheard of, but likely not common either. However, in modern times I have heard that there are cases in which girls take a bridal relationship to gods in Hinduism, and there is a lot of marital symbolism in Hinduism with the concept of the soul’s union with god, especially it seems with the textual material dealing with Krishna. In another direction, a book on Santeria showed beautiful pictures of a room in which a devote gave to his lwa wife (I probably got the term lwa wrong, I often confuse the terminology between Voodoo and Santeria). There are also suggestions in history of kings entering into marital pacts with powerful goddesses in some northern regions….how much of that is true though I can only hazard to guess.

5.) Misconception: Making the decision to be a godspouse means that you are agreeing to being enslaved by that god/dess into his/her service.

Answer: People who identify as god-slaves, whose relationship with their god is defined solely by the work they do for them, do exist. Sometimes (and I must stress this because I have not personally seen it often) a godspouse (who also usually does some kind of work on behalf of his/her beloved) will also identify as a godslave, but these terms are not synonymous. A godspouse does not necessarily feel enslaved to his/her god, anymore than you feel enslaved to your mortal spouse. It is of course a very serious commitment however. Love and intense devotion and loyalty go a long way that as with any loving relationship, a godspouse is likely to do what pleases his/her beloved just as much as people do every day for those that they love. We do however, recognize that we are not by any means equal to the gods and not gods ourselves, and therefore are placing ourselves in very uneven relationships power-wise, which also means that there are some sacrifices. But typically the gods are not ogres and do not demand anything more than what is suited to our own individual relationships with them and what we need, and what we are capable of. We may be ensnared by Love/Eros but it is a positive thing, there are no chains (unless, again, that is something particular to your relationship… on whatever level lol).

6.) Misconception: For women being a godspouse to a male god is anti-feminist.

Answer: Again, not so. As mentioned above there is no enslaving to a god’s will thing going on (typically), and as a matter of love it shouldn’t be judged as anti-feminist anymore than any women who engages in a marital to a man. There is an imbalance of power which may make it more pronounced to some feminists that there is a relationship of extreme inequality going on which act as triggers for them. However in any relationship one establishes with a god, you are going to be the inferior in the relationship, that is just how it goes. That is not say that we lack value, or boo humans kind of thing. We are self determining and quite capable of saying no and refusing anything our gods put before us, but it is easy to be a bit of a pushover for one that you love and do things that you feel that the god wants or will please him out of no other reason but love.But rather it is a recognition that we are not gods and therefore are not going to be on equal playing ground when it comes to power nor should one expect to be treated with some kind of reverence from others. We should not aspire or pretend otherwise…to do so could potentially lead to some serious delusions and hubris (for only the gods can deify, we can’t determine ourselves to be as they are). Also this idea of gender based inferiority is rather absurd, not only because gender based inferiority takes a huge backseat to any concept of inferiority to the gods in general, but also because it makes an assumption that the gods have a set literal sexual form. But the gods are not biological beings, they are greater than that. Therefore whereas their identities are often tangled up in a particular gender, often in relationship to their domain, many gods have been known to appear in a female form in some myth or another. Therefore the whole female inferior to the male argument is rather invalid. And as such it cannot be anti-feminist.

7.) Misconception: All godspouses are seers/spirit workers.

Answer: I think this misconception has caused some of the greatest friction when it comes to godspousery, or rather between godspouses, especially of the older and younger generations. There is an assumption that being a godspouse means that you must automatically become a seer, which is really an absurd assumption because those beloved by the gods in myths formed a variety of functions and had a number of various talents, but has also caused frustration. This frustration is due to new godspouses finding that they either lack the ability, or inclination, to fulfill this role. So I will say right here and right now, although a lot of godspouses find it fulfilling to be a seer/spirit worker it is not a prerequisite! Like the beloveds of history and myth, we all have our own directions our work will take us that can touch on any small part of the vast domain of the god one is “married” to. It doesn’t mean that you won’t have a knack for things in several areas, including divination/interpretation of signs/spiritwork/etc, but having that knack and even engaging in it on a personal level doesn’t mean that is what you are supposed to do or what their calling is. What your calling is will likely work itself out over time.

8.) Misconception: All Godspouses are celibate.

Answer: While there are many godspouses who make a choice to be celibate, this is something that is determined by their own individual relationship with their beloved god/dess. Sometimes the gods indicate that the desire for their mortal spouse to be unwed and/or celibate. I suspect it has more to do with the needs of the mortal spouse in particular. While it was not requested of me I have gone through several long periods of celibacy and have recently come to the conclusion, that some other godspouses I know have come to, that the commitment to the god too easily conflicts with the emotional needs of a mortal partner. In short it can seem unfair to the other person, and can sometimes cause some hostile feelings towards the godspouse’s spirituality. That said, there are godspouses who have very successful marriages and romantic partnerships. So in the end it is really about what is best for us all individually. I don’t believe that the gods call us to do anything in particular that isn’t already part of our disposition.

“All things happen in due time. Do not dwell on the action of another, or even on the absence of action. For within the quiet, waiting period, in the still anticipation, comes the clarity which will drive you forward in haste, once haste becomes necessary.

“Remember that the finest leaps in imagination come not from sheer will, but from pure need! Never force what inspiration gives freely, or you will taint the well with ego, and what results will be less Divine, and less yourself than all the sharply tailored versions of you, kept for consumption by others.

“Take heed of this warning, and be bold in your thought! For bold thought itself is the catalyst which leads to bold action, when the waiting period ends! Never allow yourself to be sequestered within a frame too rigid for growth! And be patient! Be so patient, My loves, and you will be rewarded with the strongest foundation!”

“As you weave your web, know that others are weaving their own webs around you. In time, these webs may intersect, or even overlap. This is expected, and should not cause such friction. My Will is to be spread out upon the Earth, and those who would stand in the way of My chosen, would only stand in the way of themselves, for all who are Mine are chosen by Me– and the choosing is Mine, alone. Step aside, and fear not. Accomplish the goals I have given you, and leave your peers to do the same. You can not know the whole of My plan from looking through human eyes. Embrace what is coming, and be a part of it. Or be swept aside. ”